It was obvious that Luke Kennard’s importance was going to rise with the Lakers this postseason with their starting backcourt players, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out.
What wasn’t known was how well he’d do in that situation. Well, two games in, Kennard is playing some of the best basketball of his career.
In Game 1, Kennard was an explosive offensive player. He had a playoff career high of 27 points and went a perfect 5-5 from 3-point range. Thanks to his efforts, the Lakers cruised to a win over
the Rockets.
His encore was equally as magnificent. Kennard played for 42 minutes and once again was a top scorer with 25 points in LA’s Game 2 victory.
He is currently doing what all his former teams had always hoped for: increasing his offensive aggression to maximize wins. Kennard has stepped up in all ways, and the Lakers are reaping the benefits.
“He’s super composed, I know he led the league in shooting percentage and got awarded with the award the other day and he’s a sniper,” LeBron James said after Game 2. “We understand that..But he does so much more. He does so much more and I think that’s what keeps defenses off balance because sometimes you fall into the fact that he shoots 50 [percent] from the three. But you think that sometimes it’s all he can do, but he’s so much more than that.”
Against the Rockets, Kennard has been an elite three-level scorer. Yes, his 3-point shooting has been lights out as he’s converted on a whopping 72.7% of his attempts from deep. However, he’s also been an 80% shooter from the charity stripe and a 60% shooter on twos.
His performance is one of the many reasons the Rockets’ defense hasn’t been able to slow down the Lakers’ top scorers and this series has LA ahead despite missing its two best players.
Kennard likely won’t be quite this amazing the rest of the way, but he’s stepping up in the biggest moments. Even if Kennard regresses to his season average of 47.8% from deep, that’s still an impressive percentage that was an NBA-best during the regular season.
And with his ability to get to the paint and draw fouls and his high-level scoring inside the arc, it’s going to be a tough task for Houston to disrupt Kennard’s game.
Thanks to Kennard’s play, LA has gone from a long shot of a series win to the team that’s most likely to move on between Houston and Los Angeles. And if he keeps this up, then Kennard will be known as one of the biggest playoff risers this franchise has ever seen.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
